Sled



N. A. ENSTAD.

SLED.

FILED JUNE I. i920.

@Bg/@@@U www Patented Feb. t5, T1923.

NELdLE A. ENSTAD, OF HARELOLD, SOUTH DAKOTA.

SLED.

Application lcd June l, 1920.

To all fre/0m t may conce/ru.'

Be it known that l, Numan A. Ensure, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harrold, in the county of Hughes and State of South Dakota, have invented certa-in new and useful Improvements in Sleds, of which the :following is a specifica-tion.

This invention relates to coasting sleds and more particularly to means for guiding such sleds at the will of the person carried.

A further object is to provide novel steen ying means which may be readily attached to any sled and which will normally be retained out of contact with the ground; the said means being adj ustably tensioned to keep the guide runner in an elevated position.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features or' construction, combination and arrangement or parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a perspective of the proposed invention and Figure. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the application of the invention in a modiied form.

Figure 3 is a detail of the spring connection shown in Figure 2; and

Figure i is a 'tui-ther detail showing` the tongue or reach adjusting n'iechansm attached to the runner of the sled.

The steering attachment contemplated by the present invention embodies a roller l journaled horizontally between the runners 2 and 3 of a sled ladjacent the front end and carrying a tongue member or reach 5. The tongue member 5 is provided with a sleeve b through which the roller 'l is inserted and the tongue is asned to the roller by any suitable fastening means 7 passing` hrough the sleeve and entering theu roller, his tongue, it will be noted, projects forwardly of the roller from a central point and carries at its free end a giuda runner 8 which pivots on a stud 9 so as to be easily turned in any direction. To :Facilitate the turning ot the guide runner aI bar 10 is disposed transversely of the upper edge thereof being rigidly fastened to the runner by suitable fastening means il and this bar has curved recesses l2 formed adjacent its ends to receive the iieet of the person. This guide bar l() is connected.. to the runner 8 by means of side braces 13 which are preferably of some Serial No. 385,689.

liexible material so as not to interfere with the shitting of the guide bar from one side to the other of the tongue. Each brace is fastened to the bar adjacent a recess l2 and extends angularly towards the tongue, being secured to the runner and adjacent the outer end of said tongue. To guide the sled by means oit the runner 8 it is only necessary to press the toot hard against the guide bar on the side opposite to that to which the sled is to be turned while relaxing the pressure of the foot on the side or' the bar, thus causing the runner to pivot in the desired direction on the stud 9 causing the sled runners 2 and 3 to swerve in the same direction, thus turnino the sled. By reason of the roller 1 be- Y journaled between the sled runners and consequently free to revolve it will be seen that the runner S is permitted to ride easily over any obstruction without any danger of the tongue snapping in two and without causing any incidental shock or jar to the sled 4:.

The guide runner is normally held out of contact with the ground by means of a wire spring lelwhich is coiled about the roller l as shown at l5 with one end extending under the tongue and bent upwardly on one side as indicated at lo. rlhe other end 17 of the spring is adapted to be fastened to a nut 18 Vwhich is threaded for engagement with the threaded shank J9 olf the vertically disposed bolt 20, This bolt is adapted to be revolu-Y bly supported in a threaded socket 2l fastened to the runner 2 on the inside and at a point slightly remote from the roller l. Upon turning the bolt 20 in the proper direction, the nut- 18 may be caused to move either upwardly or downwardly with the tlneaded shank,` Aausing the spring to eX- t at its coiled portion 15, thus upon the tongue of the guide `lill thus be seen that this atn applied to a sleigh, provides means whereby a person may easily guide the .same by `toot pressure, the recesses of the guide bar proyiding foot rests as previously pointed out. The ruimer 8 will of course Contact with the ground only when the Yfeet rest against the bar 10 and counteract the tensioning eiiiect of the coiled spring l5, which as before stated, normally tends to raise the tongue 5 upwardly so as to hold the guide runner above the ground. The roller l be positioned adjacent the sled runners, either adjacenttheir outer ends as il- CJD lustratcd in Figure l or it ina,7 be positioned inwardlb, in close relation to the seat 22, but the arrangement illustrated is preferred in View of the fact that the steering ineans is thus projected forwardly of the sled proper and acts as a pilotingI guard or fender for the sleigh proper.

in its modified form, the invention contemplates the pro-vision of a longer tongue or reach which will extend rearwardly of the roller i so. that its rear portion 23 passes beneath the seat Q2 of the sled. A coiled spring 241 is fastened to the upper face of the extension, and adjacent its end as indicated at 25, the other end of the spring being iirinlj gripped and held against the under side of theseat 22 by means of fastening elements 26 which illust ated to advantage in Figure 3 of the drawings may consist of bolts having their heads countersunlr in the seat and their shanlis extending downwardly and curved at their outer ends for gripping the spring. I The spring 25 in the modification replaces the springi7 used in Figure l and is tensioned to normally ei:- pand outwardly against the end of the ei;-

vtension so'- as to raise the runner S as indicated by the dotted line structure in 'Figure 2.

.ln either case when the guide runner is not needed to steer the sled the spring tends to keep it out of contact with the ground and the roller l lnay be used as a foot rest, the feet resting upon the roller on either side of the tongue or lnr operation, the person using the sled seats himself upon the seat i with the feet resting either upon the roller l or against the guide bar lO, in which latter event the runner will be forced downwardly against the tension of the spring so as to be in contact with the ground. The sled is guided at will merely by varying the foot pressure on opposite sides of the guide bar so as to cause the runner 8 to turn in the fflesired direction. rl`he tensioning` effect exerted upon the tongue 5 by the spring,- may be varied at the will of the operator by adjustin` the bolt so as 'to adjust the position of the nut 18, as previously described. It is also to be observed that this attachment can be readily applied to any style of sled without requiring any material alteration in the( construction of the latter it beingv inerely necessary to journal the rollers l between the sled runners and to aiiix the adjusting bolt and holder 2l upon the inner face of one of the runners as described, and illustrated. The attachment is complete in itself and the extent of its projection forwardljv of the sled niay be varied.

Although the foregoing description and illustration may he said to einbody the preferred construction of the invention it is to be unde stood that niinor changes with re garde to arrangenienet of parts, details of construction, etc., may be resorted to as fall within the scope of the invention claimed. Y

Having thus described the invention what I cla-iin as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is fl. A steering` device comprising a sled having' a roller journaled between the forward ends of the runners, guide means supported forwardly of the roller and movable therewith, tensioning ineans cooperating with the guide ineans for normally holding the sled .in inoperative position, and ineans for rarying` the tension.

2. .ln a steering device for sleds, a roller journalled between the runners of the sled, an arin fixed centrally of the roller and projecting forwardly therefrom, a guide runner mounted on the forward end of said arin, a coil spring surrounding the roller and haring' one end engaged beneath the arms and its other end positioned alongside of one of the sled runners, and means on said sled runner for forcing the last inentioned` end downwardly and thereby increasing the tension on the spring.

ln testimony whereof .l affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NELLLLE il. ENSTAD.

lVitnesses i WM. CAMPBELL, C. W. SAMMoNs. 

